#THE PRIDE OF MOUNT VERMIN

[anonbinaryweirdo]

as a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war

i knew that I was poor I knew it was the only way to rise upp

if they tell my story I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or rise up

we we will fight for this land

but there's only one man who can give us a command so we can rise up

understand it's the only way to RISE UP

R I S E. U P

Here he comes.

[artsykidwolf-2000]

Hello everyone back at it again with another God of War Fanfic! This time with a special twist to the narrative of Ragnarok!

This is gonna be a "my version" spin of what would happen if Flash went with Atreus to Asgard after him running away. Can't wait to see what happens here!

It kinda a long one!

Hope you guys like it!

An Arm For An Arm

{An OC × Sindri Fanfic}

{Flash x Sindri}

Warnings: Violence, Blood, Severed limbs, "censored cursing", "Dark theme", Old Scars, Curses, Dark magic, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, etc.

SPOILERS FOR GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK

Heimdall simps I see you (⁠눈⁠‸⁠눈⁠)

Rating: Mostly Fluffy with a splash of tomato sauce {Reader's Discretion is advised}{mostly mild}{Heed thy warnings please}

★★★★★★★★★

{Flash POV}

After Atreus ran away from home and I followed him things have been...both annoying and difficult. Mostly because his Giant Magic rubbed off on me when he transformed to run away. I've been stuck as a tiny ferret dragon ever since we got to Asgard and so forth! Good thing I used it to my advantage bc Heimdall would've offed me on the spot if he saw me. Good thing I can hide in shadows pretty well...

Ever since Odin talked about this mask, it has been very strange on the last mission with Thor. Nearly got my tail singed in Muspelheim. Thor didn't seem to mind me thanks to Atreus lying for me and saying I was a new pet more than a Fae in disguise. My magic has slowly been returning ever since Ragnarok started. More or less when Baldur fought us last. First my power came back, then my speed, now my shape-shifting. All that's left is...

"You seem awfully quiet..." Atreus said in a soft tone, concerning my well-being.

I snapped out of my thoughts, "Huh? Oh yeah...just been thinking of things..."

"You worried about Sindri? Father? The others?" He held my tiny form up to his face.

"Yes, especially after what you've done. If it wasn't for your resistance, Sindri would've have gotten much more damage than just a paw swipe. Just wish I wasn't dragged by you and somehow changed into this!" I pouted.

"Well either way we have another mission...and I have a bad feeling it's something other than bonding time with Thrud" he sighed.

He was right. Once we got down to Odin's chambers. There was Thrud all excited and once he said "Heimdall" I knew I was screwed than from our slight mix up once we first got here. I was pissed to say the least. Heimdall was the last person we both wanted to paired up with. Baldur was a punching bag (literally) compared to his guy! I doubt my speed could match his cockiness and "foresight".

Once Heimdall looked our way I growled at him. He chuckled and tapped my nose with his finger. I nipped at him.

"Woah~ Better keep that rodent in check... wouldn't want anyone to catch anything" Heimdall mocked in a sny kind of way. I hissed at him.

"She's not dangerous...so leave her alone" Thrud sighed as Huginn started to swarm around us.

"You defending a useless animal? Please..." Heimdall scoffed.

"She's pretty useful if you respect her like I do, she's very loyal" Atreus huffed.

"Vermine like that are snacks for my mount...anyways let's just get on with our mission before I grow bored." Heimdall stretched before glaring at me in a thinking type of way.

~~~~~~~~~~

Once we reached Helheim, we ventured around trying to follow this stupid mask. Heimdall went another way thank the gods. Which left Atreus and I with Thrud. She was a spunky lass I tell you that. If anything happened to her so help me...I don't care who her father and mother are. With each battle I could see their bond growing brighter. My crystal just shimmered with pride in this relationship.

"So might I ask something, Loki?" Thrud spoke up.

"Sure, what is it?" Atreus answered.

"Why do you have a ferret companion? How did you two meet?" She asked innocently.

I never gulped so hard. I wrapped over Atreus' shoulders in nervousness.

"My father and I found her when I was younger. She was cold and hungry and we gave her a home. She's been with us ever since. Her name is Flash since she's like lightning with how fast she can move her long body" Atreus partly lied. Thanks for the word play genius.

"Oooh, that's an interesting name. Fits her" Thrud smiled and scratched my head and jaw. Good gods her hand was soft! I started to purr wildly.

"She likes me awww~" She chuckled.

"She also has a mate at home. She terribly misses him."

F**k...way to go Atreus....telling my love life....

"I hope you get back home soon after the mission. I would miss my significant other if I was away for a long time." She smiled.

. . . . .

...I will protect this girl along with Atreus...

After she stopped petting me, the pair opened a door that lead to Garm's holding place. That wolf looked even more gigantic once we got up close. One by one both Atreus and Thrud unlatched two of the three chains locking the giant soulless wolf away. Once we tried to third one, Garm woke up, tearing the very chain off the floor. I had a bad feeling along with the others. Even more disappointment came when the chamber behind him was a F**CKING DEAD END!!!

This mask...getting on my last nerve.

With this grand mistake, we hightailed back out the area. Thrud kept on worrying what Odin would think of this. That coward wouldn't be the least of my worries...

That was until Heimdall showed his smug ass face...

"My My what a mess you two have made! Letting the Realm eating wolf loose! What would everyone think..." Heimdall said in a smug tone. His smug look turned at Thrud for that comment.

"It was a mistake, leave her alone" Atreus spoke up, "I'll take the blame for it!"

"Oh you will...you see with this there's surely no retribution" Heimdall chuckled, "once your gone our lives would be so much better....one way or another... half-breed"

My fur frizzed up. I growled at him. My fangs bared and claws bared.

"Leave him alone Heimdall! Once I'm a Valkyrie-" Thrud spoke up.

"Such a childish dream... you're not ready nor will you ever be..." Heimdall smirked. Thrud threw punches at him. Time after time his smug look grew brighter.

I wanted to wipe it off so fast.

I want to see his face when I punch him...

My fur began to glitter red and gold before I kept towards Heimdall. Both Thrud and Atreus saw as Heimdall almost got clocked by my fist.

My fist?

Wait! I'm back!!

"You better eat those words, Heimdall" I hissed at him.

"I knew there was something off about your little...rat" Heimdall smirked and circled me, "A Draken disguised as a little ferret...I know who you are..."

I glared at him. My eyes changed from blue to a red hue. My fangs bared.

"You're a Fae...An a spawn of Titania no doubt..." Heimdall laughed, "Falishia...how the mighty have fallen...the Failed Dragon King"

"I'd hold your tongue if I were you Heimdall...Do you want to end up like Baldur?" I flipped my long dagger in my hand.

"Please...I know it was the boy's father that killed him," Heimdall glanced at me, "you're nothing but a weak, useless husk of what you once were!"

I growled and swung at him with my daggers. With each swing he kept on dodging or deflecting them. That was until I actually landed a "hit" on his cheek. That really set off some bombs in his head, see him touch his cheek where a tiny stream of blood dripped was priceless.

But...

The next thing I knew was Atreus warning me once I looked at him. Then I was pinned to the wall by my own dagger. Lodging it into my right shoulder. I grunted in pain as I growled at Heimdall who picked up the other dagger I dropped.

"Heimdall stop this!" Thrud yelled at him.

"You hold your tongue girl, or I'll do much worse than what I intended to do to her..." Heimdall smirked and raised my own blade against me.

With one fell swoop he severed my right arm in the middle of my upper arm area. I roared in pain. Blood painted the wall and floor where I stood. Heimdall smirked with pride until Atreus pushed him out of the way while Thrud set me loose.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry..." Thrud looked panicked.

"don't be... I've been through worse..." I coughed up blood.

"You asshole!! You'll pay for what you have done!" Atreus screamed at Heimdall before running over to me, "This...This is all my fault..."

I wiped tears from his eyes, "no it's not...go back with Thrud... I'll be fine"

"b-but your arm...what will-" Atreus sniffed out before I stopped him.

"Trust me..." I pulled him closer by his collar and whispered, "Thrud needs a friend more than an enemy... I'll find my way home"

Atreus sniffed and wiped his tears. Thrud looked at me and I nodded to her. She took him away. Heimdall looked at me once more before tossing my dagger at me.

"one day... you'll lose EVERYTHING you hold dear... I'll make sure of it" Heimdall chuckled before Huginn swarmed around the three of them. After they left I spat out blood. I looked at my severed arm as it started to turn black and fade away into ash. Sh*t.

Not now...I have to get back...

I slowly got up, picking up my daggers. Holding my bleeding arm as I tracked down a realm door spot. I grabbed a spare realm seed I snagged and prayed to Yggdrasil. Soon the realm door opened. I drudged inside and hoped I'd make it back.

Sindri

That's all I could think about.

Why did my dumb ass self have to get into trouble.

Another door opened up and I trudged inside and to the other side. I could hear the others talking. Kratos and Freya must've made it back from the Norns like they planned. I had to hurry. I pushed the door with my shoulder the best I could. Freya spotted me first.

"Flash! You've returned-" Freya announced before I fully opened the door. I could only see the horror in her eyes once I collapsed in the foyer. The next voice I heard was pure horror to my ears once Freya ran towards me.

It was Sindri.

"Flash! Nononono!" He ran with Brok to my side. He almost gagged at my wound.

"What in all the nine realms happened to s'ya?!" Brok spoke out.

"Helheim...and Heimdall..." I flinched at Freya's magic.

"Heimdall...?!" Freya looked shocked, "why did he..."

"That... Pompous pr*ck wanted to make me suffer more...being a Fae and all..."

"I KNEW IT!!" Mimir gasped as Kratos made his way to us.

"What do you mean, Head?" Kratos grumbled.

"She's one of the daughters of Titania! I knew you looked familiar!!" Mimir said happily.

"Titania...but how did you?" Freya tried to patch up my wound.

"I get around...one way or another... I'm still a Draken but I'm also a Fae..." I sighed then I looked at Sindri.

"She was known as the Dragon King! I know it's a more masculine term but when do dragon ever follow rules" Mimir quoted.

"I can't seem to heal your wound fully..." Freya leaned me up.

"Kratos...burn me" I demanded.

He nodded and grabbed his blades of chaos and lit them a blaze. He started to cauterized my wound. I quickly latched on Sindri. I screamed in pain. I clawed his pristine armor and buried my face into his neck. All I could think about how scared I made him. I kept on whimpering apology after apology into his armored tunic.

Once Kratos was finished, I took a breather, but it wasn't for long until...the curse set in. My wound started to burn with dark magic. I screamed again as a new black arm replaced my old one. Black smoke rolled off the surface like ashen soot bellowing out of a volcano. I then passed out into Sindri's arms. My body taken its toll for something I could not stop.

"The Dragon King's Curse..." Was all I could hear from Mimir before nothing...

~~~~~~~~

Once I woke up, I was in my room. Sindri was sitting next to my bed. I could see a bandage wrapped around his head now. Did Atreus really hurt him more than I thought? I can't imagine what he was thinking before I came back.

"Sindri?" I said hoarsely.

"Flash...!?" He perked up. He wasn't the only one that perked up. A little black blob moved in his lap then popped it's head up.

"Crimson...?" I spoke up. Crimson chirped and wriggled her ferret like body over to me from Sindri. I cried and held her close, "you're back! I was so worried..."

Crimson chirped then bit my nose.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

She huffed and turned to Sindri. When I looked at him closer I saw he'd been crying. His eyes and cheeks were all puffy and red.

"Sindri...I...I'm so sorry" I leaned up to reach for him but he quickly grabbed my hand...then my black arm.

"What is this? Mimir said it was a Curse..." He said with a stern tone.

My ears drooped a bit, "Yes but it's more of a weird blessing...people call it a curse bc of the magic...it's something we must contain once we take the oath of Power" I looked at my hand.

"I thought we'd be more honest! You should've told me!" He said with more vocal concern.

"I thought it never would lead up to this...I thought it wouldn't be...not since..." I started to tear up which he rarely seen me do. He cautiously touched my cheek.

"Since...what?"

"I lost my best friend...and my first love..." I sniffled out. Crimson whimpered then tapped my ruby crystal that was on my choker necklace. It showed a picture. A memory.

"Her name was Scarlett...she was the only one who could stand me and told me I smelled good. We were inseparable...until one day when some rogue dragons came to destroy everything...and me." I clenched my fist. "She told me to run when the leader found us. She turned into a wyvern and fought the best she could. I couldn't help her bc I couldn't transform properly...she died as a result of me being weak..."

"Flash..." Sindri said quietly.

"and now..." I looked up at him with a tear stained face and touched his bandages, "I couldn't protect you from Atreus...Atreus and Thrud from Heimdall...or you from the horror of seeing me!"

Crimson tried to lick my tears away. She purred sorrowfully as she nuzzles my cheek. Sindri moved to the bed, sitting next to me, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around me. Being brave about his fear of the beasties he lifted my scrawny ass into his lap and sat criss-cross on the bed with his back on the wall. Crimson looked at him and smiled and returned to being my left arm tattoo.

"I guess I haven't been honest too...you earlier actually scared me than beyond just scared" he spoke out, "Long before Atreus was born, Brok died in an accident at the forge...I went to the Lake of Souls to get him back but...I couldn't get the last part of his soul back...I could still feel the Souls clawing at me. Once I returned Brok thought he was just knocked out for a while...it's eaten at me ever since..."

"Sindri..." I placed my hand on his cheek.

"I hope you can forgive me..."

"You sound just like my twin sister...she brought me back to life after...an "accident"...that was after a bout of sadness after Scarlett's death... I'll spare details" I sighed, "Promise to never leave my side, and I'll do the same?"

"I Promise"

"Good" I hugged him tightly. He hugged me back.

Once we pulled away he noticed something clink against his armor. It was a blank crystal on a golden chain. The crystal sat just on his sternum.

"What is this?" He lifted the crystal.

"It's a symbol, the crystals represent the heart, usually it's on a simple cord with beads or something but I thought a gold chain would do nicely... normally the more finer metals are saved for females for....engagement" My ears turned red as my cheeks as I looked away. Once I looked back up at him after hearing a squeak I saw he was beet red and steaming from the head. Uh oh.

"Sindri?" I cupped his cheeks, "Sin-DRIIIII?! Mmph?!" He soon kissed me without warning. I kissed him back. We stayed like that for a long while before departing. We rested on each other's foreheads. He then soon flinched doe to his injury.

"I love you" he chuckled.

"Love you too, ya pansey" I smiled, "come on, the other must be dying to see if I'm ok or not."

He nodded and we both got up. Hand in hand we made our way down to the foyer. There Atreus was waiting with the others. He looked like we went to Helheim again. He lifted his head to see me.

"Flash! You're ok!!" He raced up and hugged me.

"Told ya I would be, I hope I didn't scar ya too badly"

"Not too much, but I fixed my mistake with Father, nothing to worry about now" He smiled.

"I'm glad" I smirked and ruffled his hair with my new arm.

"Woah...cool arm..." He gasped.

"I'll tell you more about it later, Kiddo" I winked and saw Brok trudging our way with something in hand.

"Fixed y'er daggers! Figured you'd want something less f**cked up since it's touched by that taint-stained prized show pony" Brok handed me new daggers made from my scales.

"Thanks Brok"

"Figured you want'a match your new accessory ya' gave us a scared about! Don't ever do that again!" Brok huffed.

I laughed then turned to Kratos. He looked at me like he had a plan.

"I know that face...you have a plan, Kratos" I put a hand on my hip.

"A simple one...Since Heimdall not only wants to kill my son but people I considered family... there's nothing better than a fair trade" He grunted.

"and what's that?" I smirked evilly

"An Arm for An Arm"

[dalishious]

DA:O and DA:2 Loading Screen Texts

“The Andrastian Chantry believes that if the Chant of Light--first written by the prophet Andraste--can be spread to all four corners of the world, the Maker will forgive humankind for their sins.”

“Dwarves have no formal religion, instead venerating the Paragons--those of their ancestors who have contributed in some meaningful way to society.”

“The second elven homeland, the Dales, fell to an Exalted March called on the “heathens” not long after the end of the Second Blight--almost 700 years ago.”

“There have been four Blights in total; the last ended four hundred years ago at the Battle of Ayesleigh. Humanity mistakenly believed the darkspawn were permanently defeated there.”

“The Grey Wardens were once exiled from Ferelden for conspiring to overthrow the king. They were permitted to return twenty years ago by King Maric, Cailan’s father.”

“At the Battle of River Dane, Loghain Mac Tir became known as a hero when he and his men finally drove the forces of the Orlesian Empire out of Ferelden after more than 80 years of occupation.”

“The Grey Wardens were once known for the griffon mounts on which they flew into battle. The griffon numbers waned after the last Blight, finally disappearing completely 200 years ago.”

“Grey Wardens possess the Right of Conscription: they may draft anyone into their ranks without question, from prince to lowly commoner. This is not always done without consequence, however.”

“The dwarven kingdom once encompassed 12 great thaigs spread across Thedas, joined by the underground Deep Roads. Only two remain: Orzammar and Kal Sharok.”

“An elven alienage is a city quarter where elves live, often poor and walled off from the rest, rampant with crime and strife.”

“In their first homeland, Arlathan, elves were immortal and possessed an advanced culture and language. After a millennium of slavery and poverty they lost it all, and even the Dalish have only reclaimed but a little.”

“The Orlesians conquered Ferelden in 8:24 Blessed, beginning a long and brutal rule that ended only 30 years ago. Most Fereldans still remember that time vividly.”

“King Cailan Theirin assumed the throne five years ago upon the death of his father, marrying Lady Anora Mac Tir--daughter of Teyrn Loghain--exactly one month later.”

“The Circle of Magi was formed by the Chantry to keep a watchful eye over the mages. According to the Chant of Light, magic is meant to serve man and never to rule over him.”

“Templars are warriors that exist to monitor mages and hunt down those that go rogue from the Circle of Magi. They have the ability to disrupt magic and drain mana from their adversaries.”

“The Korcari Wilds extends far to the south of Ferelden, stretching into an uncharted frozen wasteland. It is a dangerous place, supposedly filled with witches, barbarians, and monsters.”

“The Circle of Magi's tower, standing off the shore of Lake Calenhad, precedes the mages themselves. It was built by the Avvar a thousand years ago, before being conquered by the Tevinter Imperium.”

“The ancient Tevinter Imperium, ruled by the magisters and powerful blood magic, once spread over all of Thedas. Many of its ruins still remain in Ferelden even today.”

“The Fade is a dream realm where the spirits of all beings but dwarves go when they sleep. Only mages remain conscious once there, but others can “awaken” if they are trapped there unwillingly.”

“The Fade is the realm of hungry demons that constantly seek to pass through the Veil into the land of the living. Those that succeed will try to possess a body, living or dead.”

“Demons are drawn to mages, and should they ever succeed in possessing one they transform them into an abomination--a terrifying and intelligent monster with access to great magical powers.”

“Demons primarily come in five varieties, based on the part of the living psyche that they feed from. From weakest to strongest they are rage, hunger, sloth, desire, and pride.”

“Not all spirits of the Fade are evil things. Some are beings of compassion, fortitude, and justice. They have little interest in crossing the Veil unless summoned, however, and thus are far less known than demons.”

“Ferelden has existed as a nation since the fabled King Calenhad, the Silver Knight, united the warring Alamarri teyrns almost 400 years ago.”

“The Qunari landed on the northern island of Par Vollen three centuries ago, coming from an unknown land far off to the east across the Amaranthine Ocean. They began a war to conquer Thedas almost immediately, one that ended in a truce after more than 150 years of fighting.”

“According to the Chantry calendar, every hundred years is an age--named at the end of the last age according to omens discerned that year. The Dragon Age is the ninth since the ascension of the first Divine of the Chantry.”

“Dragons were once worshipped by the ancient Tevinter Imperium, and existed in number until the Nevarran dragon hunters brought them to the brink of extinction. They only reappeared at the beginning of the Dragon Age, giving the age its namesake.”

“Those that survive the darkspawn taint eventually become “ghouls,” their minds corrupted and twisted to seek out and serve the darkspawn until eventually they die in anguish or disappear underground forever.

“Without an Archdemon to lead them to the surface, the darkspawn remain below in the Deep Roads, battling the dwarves. Few—save for the Grey Wardens—know anything about them.”

“The ancient mining tunnels beneath Hightown and Lowtown now form the city's sewers, as well as the slum known as Darktown. Residents refer to these tunnels collectively as the Undercity.”

“People from the Free Marches are called “Marchers,” but usually only by outsiders. A citizen of Kirkwall thinks of himself as being from the city first and the Free Marches second.”

“The Fifth Blight began in 9:30 Dragon and lasted only a year before the Archdemon was slain. The Hero of Ferelden spared the world from the ravages of another war against the darkspawn.”

“There are fourteen Circles of Magi in Thedas, excluding those in the Tevinter Imperium. The Circle at the Gallows in Kirkwall is one of two in the Free Marches and is the center of templar power in the East.”

“Kirkwall was once part of the Tevinter Imperium and the center of its slave trade. Slaves worked the quarries until they revolted more than 900 years ago.”

“The Qunari live on Par Vollen, an island nation in the tropical northern climes. Some believe they originally came from elsewhere, since they weren't seen in Thedas until 300 years ago.”

“The Qunari invaded mainland Thedas 200 years ago, and were driven back during the New Exalted Marches. The Llomerryn Accord in 7:84 Storm established an armistice between the Qunari and every nation except the Tevinter Imperium.”

“The raiders who plague the waters of the Waking Sea and the Amaranthine Ocean are based out of the chaotic Rivaini city of Llomerryn.”

“Although the slave trade is legal only in the Tevinter Imperium, their slavers are present almost everywhere. They prey on elves and the poor, bringing victims back to the Imperium to sell to magisters and shady foreigners.”

“The largest guild of thieves in Kirkwall calls itself the Coterie. Although the association is very informal, the Coterie is vicious against anyone who looks like competition.”

“The Gallows sits in a harbor that was carved through the cliffs by magic to allow ships to dock in the middle of Lowtown.”

““The Twins” is the local name for the two great Tevinter statues that flank the entrance to Kirkwall’s harbor. They are not merely for show: a massive chain net can be raised between them and the fortified lighthouse.”

“Kirkwall’s Lowtown once held the city's slaves. Individual sections could be closed off in the event of a rebellion, and the winding streets were designed to discourage slaves from attempting to organize.”

“Both the Viscount’s Keep and the chantry were built by the dwarves. They were originally intended to house the city’s magister overlords, back at the height of Imperial rule.”

“The Free Marches is not a single nation, but an alliance of independent city-states. Kirkwall, Starkhaven, and Tantervale are the largest.”

“Kirkwall has been ruled by a viscount since the Orlesian Empire installed one as governor in 7:60 Storm. The city retained the title even after it rebelled against foreign rule.”

“Kirkwall’s less illustrious residents assemble at the Hanged Man. The tavern's feature dish is its stew, made from a different mystery meat each morning.”

“Kirkwall was built almost entirely through slave labor. Part of the city was once a quarry, worked by thousands upon thousands of slaves. Massive quantities of jet stone were carved straight out of the rock face, eventually creating the pit that is now Lowtown, as well as the city’s broad harbor.”

“Kirkwall has had numerous dragon sightings, but they are generally peasant exaggerations. One “imminent high dragon flight” turned out to be an emaciated drake in a pained rage caused by passing a Griffon Helm.”

“Kirkwall declared the common nug a noxious vermin in 5:20 Exalted over fears that the animals carried the Blight. The extermination became known as the Battle of the Squealing Plains. It is not spoken of in polite company.”

“Don't play cards with Qunari--it's impossible to tell when they're bluffing. Don't play against elves, either--they never pay their debts. And never play against dwarves--they'll kill you if they lose.”

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Ghlaunder, the Gossamer King

Chaotic Evil God of Infection, Parasites, and Stagnation

Domains: Air, Animal, Chaos, Destruction, Evil Subdomains: Catastrophe, Cloud, Demon, Fur, Insect, Plague, Rage, Wind

Inner Sea Faiths, pg. 40~45

Obedience: Craft a small poppet in the shape of a flea, tick, stirge, or other such plague-carrying creature, using natural materials such as straw, and mixing your blood with foul-smelling mud or dung to bind the poppet together. As it dries over the course of an hour, recite verses invoking virulence, filth, and affliction on the living while applying leeches to your flesh. At the end of the hour, burn the poppet and the leeches, inhaling the foul vapors while meditating on the purging effects of disease on the living while your leech-drawn blood burns in sacrifice to Ghlaunder. Benefit: If you are affected by a disease, any ability score damage or drain you would take from that disease today is halved; if you would take 1 point of ability score damage, you instead take none. You can still contract diseases and spread them to others as normal.

christ in heaven alright

Look at that! Nearly two paragraphs of details you need to follow to the letter, with basically NONE of the wiggle room we can usually expect! Every day, you must make and burn a poppet made of grass, sticks, or straw, which is glued together with stinky mud or poop. Then, while your foul effigy hardens, you have to apply leeches to yourself while praising Ghlaunder, and at the end of it all? Burn everything! Nope, you don’t get to reuse any of that stuff! Not even the leeches! I think, out of all of this, getting an endless supply of leeches is going to be the most difficult part to do and the most obnoxious to maintain.

Just living near a swamp or slow-moving river is your best bet, really, collecting as many of the buggers as you can before moving on. Dipping your feet in the water to allow them to come to you and just baking whoever takes a nibble also works. At the very least, “leeches” means you can’t get away with using just one, but you CAN get away with using just two, stretching your supply a bit further. Really, though, Ghlaunder is somehow just as difficult for an adventurer to serve as Apollyon, but for the opposite reason; Apollyon thrives on the sickened traveler spreading his works from place to place, while Ghlaunder encourages his faithful to find a good spot to rest and stay there. Fitting for a God of Stagnation, but it also means an adventurer serving him is probably better off avoiding Deific Obedience... Unless you operate out of a convenient hub location.

Or the DM just handwaves your access to an endless supply of leeches.

Anyway, the rest of his Obedience is no less frustrating, but I tend to fixate on any ritual portion that consumes its resources, especially if those resources are living creatures. Gluing your foul idol together specifically requires “foul-smelling mud” or dung, two things difficult to hide from prying eyes.... and prying noses. You’ll need to find yourself a nice, secluded spot to keep people from wondering why you’re playing with poop, especially when you start burning it and inhaling the fumes. Eugh... AND you have to chant about disease and grunge all spooky-like! There’s some frustrating irony in a god that prides himself on being subtle with his undermining of resident faiths turns around and makes his Obedience so goddang hard to keep under wraps or excuse if someone walks in on it.

Anyway, the benefit. The benefit is probably one of the most unique across many books, providing no numerical bonuses to any stats but instead affecting any diseases you may be suffering from. Normally, “unique” doesn’t directly translate to “good,” and indeed the first sentence is a bit discouraging: You must already be suffering from a disease(s) to reap the rewards. If something you catch has an onset time of “immediate,” this benefit does not protect you from its initial damage, but it does offer some protection from whatever lingering effects it may have later. In addition, without magic or someone making Heal checks on you (including yourself), you won’t naturally recover any damage you take from your collection of woes (scroll a bit to “Effect,” it’s in the last sentence!), which can make collecting all your cool diseases pretty hazardous... But note how this ability is written. “Damage you would take is halved today; if you would take 1 damage, you take none instead.”

The reduction happens after the halving! This, quite generously, means that a disease will have to do at least 4 damage to have any actual effect on your scores. Many lesser diseases such as Filth Fever will fail to affect you at all, while more powerful diseases with secondary effects (Cackle Fever, Slimy Doom, Bubonic Plague) often have their effects canceled out entirely. Nice! You’ll probably still want to cure anything that has a chance of damaging your Con, though...

Boons are acquired slowly: the first once you reach 12 hit dice, the second at 16, and the third at 20. However, the Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel Prestige Classes can be entered as early as level 5; doing so grants you the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. As Ghlaunder is a true deity and does not require Fiendish Obedience, you earn the right to enter the classes earlier than those who serve fiends!

------ EVANGELIST ------

Boon 1: Cult of Contagion. Gain Ray of Sickening 3/day, Pox Pustules 2/day, or Contagion 1/day

I’m just going to outright ignore Ray of Sickening; the penalty it inflicts loses serious punch at around the time you get it, and it’s entirely negated by a save. Pox Pustules is also on the weak side, inflicting sickness and imparting a -4 Dex penalty to its victim from Close range. The intimidation factor is alright, though, and you can time it to make it seem like it’s some form of divine judgment when an enemy of yours is boasting and blaspheming, but again, the sickened condition starts falling off by the time you gain access to this spell. That leaves the final one!

Contagion is the most fitting for a cultist of Ghlaunder, especially since a single casting of the spell can easily spell doom for a low-level peasant town. Slimy Doom is especially useful in this regard, spreading via simple contact from one infected to another. Bubonic Plague also spreads through proximity with the infected and, of course, through the bites of infested wildlife. If forced to use it in combat, Blinding Sickness has a 50% chance of striking the infected victim permanently blind and Bubonic Plague can instantly fatigue its victim. However, given that it’s a touch attack and is negated by a Fortitude save, I’d prefer using it out of combat to blight enemy (or civilian) fortifications. Infecting a single flea-infested rat with the Bubonic Plague, shoving it into a Sack Of Rats for a while, and then releasing the whole mess of infected vermin is perfectly viable.

What? It is! You’re Evil! And yes, Contagion’s mystically conjured illnesses are indeed as infectious as their natural counterparts; the duration is ‘instantaneous’ and the diseases progress as normal once they’re formed inside your victim. “but only Mythic Contagion and Epidemic say the disease is contagious--” No!!! Those two say that the disease becomes so supernaturally virulent that casual contact will spread it! They can still spread through their normal methods!

Also, yes, infecting yourself with Contagion and allowing the disease to spread outwards from you is perfectly doable, but remember that Ghlaunder’s blessing doesn’t protect you from the initial damage.

Boon 2: Nauseating Strike. 3/day before you roll an attack, you can declare that it will be a Nauseating Strike. If you miss, the ability is wasted. If you hit, the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD) or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds, in addition to the weapon’s normal effects and damage.

Off to a mediocre start, I think. The Evangelist can be born from any class from martial to caster, so whether or not this ability will actually work for you is a bit up in the air. However, it can be passed on through both melee and ranged weapons, and the nauseated condition is one of the most punishing things you could inflict on anything, even if it IS just for a round. The fact you can use it three times per day means you can chain the ability into itself to keep a single powerful enemy nauseated for the entire battle!

The major disappointment here is the scaling. Unlike almost every other Boon with a saving throw attached, this ability doesn’t scale off any ability modifier and assures that its DC is capped out at 20 (or, rather, around 17 or so for most sessions). That’s just plain awful! It dramatically lessens its chance to affect anything worth affecting once you reach levels 13+ and may have already begun struggling to keep up with the mounting Fortitude saves most enemies possess past level 10, though at the very least it’ll be reliable against humanoid casters for a while still. Still, the lack of scaling puts a serious damper on what would otherwise be a great combat ability!

Boon 3: Debilitating Blight. 1/day, you can cast Greater Contagion as a spell-like ability. The save DC is increased by 4, and in addition to the normal effects of the disease, the target is instantly wracked with terrible coughs and painful sores that inflict a -2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability modifiers for a number of rounds equal to your Hit Dice.

The DC to resist this spell is 19+Cha mod thanks to this ability. Because of how it’s worded in the book, the save DC to avoid secondary infection from the disease if it’s passed to another is also increased by 4. Fun!

So every good thing I had to say about Contagion above? Tack that onto this, but add on that you can cast it from a range, the disease’s cure DC is 5 higher than normal, and the disease can’t be cured without magic. It doesn’t matter how many saving throws you make, bud; if you don’t have someone with Remove Disease or similar, you’re stuck with that illness for the rest of your miserable life. If you thought the Black Death was a nightmare before, imagine knowing it’s never going to get better. While it’s not in typical player character style, Contagion’s utility as a civilization-swatting spell with a bit of creative application is extremely powerful if you’re in a proper situation to use or need it, and Greater Contagion is endlessly stronger in every regard. Common priests won’t be able to deal with what you’ve caused, allowing you to slide in and preach to the ill masses about how to deal with their new sickness: Pledge their lives to the Gossamer King!

In combat, its utility is much the same as its base version. While the number of monsters immune to disease is frankly insulting at higher levels, you can still make the lives of Humanoids and most Monstrous Humanoids miserable. Blinding Sickness and Bubonic Plague are your go-tos if you want someone dead quickly. It has the added benefit of striking your victim with boils, though, inflicting a -4 penalty onto every single roll they make for 14+ rounds! “Wait, it only says -2!” I hear you say, as I hover a magnifying glass over this portion:

“... saving throws, skill checks, and ability modifiers.” Those must be some NASTY boils if they affect the targets ability scores directly, applying a -2 penalty directly to every one of their modifiers! That means this ability actually inflicts -4; -2 at base, and -2 from reducing the ability modifiers directly. Also, the wording on this ability implies that the disease itself, not the spell, transmits these nasty boils and cough, so everyone it passes on to is struck with the debilitating infection for a minute or so. If that is indeed how your DM interprets this ability, you can get a HUGE amount of use out of this power by infecting yourself and going out of your way to smear your blood (etc) on your weapons and slashing your victims, or hauling off and biting them, coughing on them, or spitting on them. Exposure prompts an instant saving throw versus infection (which is heightened by +4), meaning you can get a quick and dirty -4 to your foes rolls with a bit of preparation and luck!

I like plague tactics, alright? They don’t get used nearly enough in Pathfinder, but they’re fun if pulled off right!

------ EXALTED ------

Boon 1: Infectious Blighter. Gain Inflict Light Wounds 3/day, Accelerate Poison 2/day, or Nauseating Trail 1/day.

Accelerate Poison is an interesting little one. It either makes a delayed poison happen instantly, or doubles the rate at which a poison tears its victim apart. In a dedicated poison build, it’s absolutely a spell you’d never prepare but would love to have. Unfortunately, you are the caster-aligned Exalted and aren’t likely to want to get close enough to use the spell’s touch range. Its standard action casting time is also agonizing as you’re forced to keep up with your target if they flee or--more importantly--forced to waste your action slapping them with a save-negated spell. It had better be a damn good poison to justify taking this spell.

Hell, even Inflict Light Wounds can be better if you have Undead on your side. If you don’t, don’t even bother. Nauseating Trail is the way to go here, affecting a single willing target with body odor so vile that it nauseates anyone who fails their save against it for 1d4+1 rounds, and your ally (or yourself) can scamper around like a mud-spattered dog, trailing this mist of noxious fumes behind you to form walls of the stuff. Anyone who enters these misty walls must save against the nausea, letting you form a punishing cage around your enemies and contain foes with Scent behind a stinky screen that lingers for a full round/level.

I’ll hammer on this point until it gets dull: Nausea is a powerful status effect, and anything that can cause it--especially to a whole crowd of enemies--is not to be overlooked! It’s a bit harder to use than Stinking Cloud, yeah, but if you can apply it to a creature that can’t be targeted with Attacks of Opportunity, you can get the stink vapors directly into an enemy’s space without the risk of blasting your allies with the stench. That’s worth something!

Boon 2: Blighting Channel. 3/day when channeling negative energy, you may have it damage plants and Plant creatures instead of healing Undead. Plant creatures within range take 1d6 damage, plus 1d6 damage for every 2 Cleric levels you possess (max 10d6 at 20th level). Normal plants within range wither and die immediately, with no save.

Eeeeeeeewwwwww

You can tell Ghlaunder is one of deities from when Paizo was first toying with Obediences, because like a fool they tied this ability to the base class they expected everyone to go with when becoming an Exalted. They didn’t even give an ounce of consideration to the poor Oracle, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, or Inquisitor! This ability is useless to anyone but a Cleric, even if you somehow gain the ability to channel energy outside of your class, because its damage scales with your Cleric level. This also means entering the Exalted Prestige Class puts a cap on what this ability can do, not that it can really do much.

Channel Energy coming from an Evil source, you may or may not be aware, harms all living creatures within its radius anyway. If you very specifically want to hurt Plants, good job, I guess? Ghlaunder is the right guy for you, for some reason??? Why DOES he want to blight plants, anyway? You’d think his Exalted would gain the power to, I dunno, fly like a mosquito, or summon a swarm of pests, or commune with peoples diseases for information. This ability belongs more to Treerazer than the King of Parasites! I’d even say it’s kind of goofy for him to have!

Blasting a 30ft circle of vegetation to death has its uses, I suppose, but I don’t feel like that’s nearly Boon-worthy, especially since it’s so harshly restricted to you being a Cleric.

Boon 3: Polluted Servant. 1/day as a standard action, you can summon a Hezrou Demon to your side. It dutifully obeys your orders for 1 minute per Hit Dice you have before vanishing back to the Abyss, but will not perform any actions that would make it behave in an overly Good way, and if an order is especially egregious in that regard, it may attack you.

And your reward for either having no second Boon or a disappointing one is to summon one big stinky boy to your aid! Lazy but powerful, a Hezrou makes a decent tank for your party but also an excellent long-ranged offensive caster if you’re against Lawful and/or Good opponents thanks to its at-will Chaos Hammer and Unholy Blight spells. If you’ve found yourself surrounded by the forces of Heaven (or Nirvana or Elysium or--), your toady boy can also let loose a blasphemous croak to send them all flying back to their gods.

At CR 11, you’ll likely be around level 14 when you first get this power, meaning your Hezrou is likely still tough enough to stand against the enemies you’ll be facing, with the biggest downside being that its Stench will affect your allies whenever you call it to your side. A secondary downside is that it always appears by your side; no summoning it right next to a fragile enemy!

You’ll be able to enjoy its wretched presence for quite a while before it stops being viable to call against endbosses, but it’ll still likely be beefy enough to go toe-to-toe with minions and the like. A decent enough final Boon! Not quite worth dealing with the second Boon, though, so I believe we can say the Exalted is currently in last place.

------ SENTINEL ------

Boon 1: Poisonous Penitent. Gain Nauseating Dart 3/day, Pernicious Poison 2/day, or Poison 1/day.

None of these are really that great! I’ve harped on Poison before, noting that its casting and immediate effect means that using it as a tool for a stealthy assassination isn’t truly viable, and that using it in combat is also a poor use of one’s action when you could instead knife someone. It has niche use against creatures with Regeneration or even just Fast Healing that outpaces your damage potential, but once again I’ll reiterate that it’s unlikely to really deal with the threat for one reason (immunity to poison) or another (a Con score that exceeds 12, which is Poison’s average damage).

Pernicious Poison weakens a victim against poisons, inflicting a -4 penalty to them for 10 min/level and increasing the number of ticks of poison the victim feels by 2. This makes it much more attractive for stealthy assassinations and much more fitting for a cultist of Ghlaunder, as a simple touch has no visible effect on the victim. It’s only when they’re eventually exposed to poison that the magic reveals itself, and even then, the magic’s effects are subtle enough that onlookers won’t even realize you’ve done anything, which is the best outcome you can hope for. It also inflicts a -4 penalty to anyone trying to cure the poison with magic or skill, helping assure the victim will suffer its full effects.

To reiterate, not great, but it’s incredibly flexible depending on the poisons you have access to and is damned reliable, as it offers no saving throw against its effects. It does mean you have to use poisons, though, which struggle to remain viable at higher levels, which is why Nauseating Dart is also on the Meh pile. It’s a poison effect, deals a whopping 1d2 damage on a hit, and nauseates the victim for one round. While nausea is an amazing status effect, this spell requires both a successful attack roll from you AND a failed Fortitude save from your enemy, when you--the Sentinel--are likely much better off simply attacking 2~4 times with your weapon. It’s also, again, listed as a poison effect, so it may not even work against the enemies you need it to work on.

It’s an odd world we live in when Pernicious Poison is the most attractive option on a spell list. If you plan ahead and play with fellow Evil folk, you can tag-team with your party’s Eldritch Poisoner Alchemist to make one fool’s life very miserable and very short.

Boon 2: Bloodletter. You gain a +1 profane bonus on all attack and damage rolls with a spear. In addition, when you confirm a critical hit, your target takes 1 point of bleed damage for every 2 character levels you have. The bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Heal check or the application of any effect that heals hit point damage. Bleed damage from this ability or any other effect does not stack with itself.

Oho? A Sentinel Boon that actually rewards attacking with a weapon? What a concept! But Ghlaunder here gets it, and pulls it off better than most. Poison is niche use, but any creature with blood/ichor/sap/etc is typically vulnerable to bleed damage! While this ability does, disappointingly, rely on being able to deliver and confirm critical hits, your victim receives no secondary save against the bleed and begins spraying the battlefield for 5+ damage a round. It’s not much, but it will rack up quickly, and it’s automatic damage they need some form of healing to overcome.

Plus, even if they do heal it, you’ll probably trigger it again at some point during the fight. And it they run off, you now have a convenient trail of blood to track them with! Also, if you want to get pedantic, you could say that “the application of any effect that heals hit point damage” doesn’t count Regeneration and Fast Healing, as those effects are often not being applied, but are already present. You can definitely make a case for it with Fast Healing, but not really with Regeneration; wounds closing on their own tend to stem the tide of precious life fluid a little bit.  

Of all the “trigger on crit” abilities we’ve seen so far this isn’t nearly the strongest, but I place it on a pedestal specifically because unlike, say, Yhidothrus, it works on a much wider variety of foes (beware Constructs and Undead), has no daily limit to its uses, consumes no extra actions from you, and can’t be avoided with a saving throw. AND! And, it comes with a free +1 to attack and damage rolls! Nice!

Boon 3: Horrible Blow. 1/day, before you roll an attack, you can declare that it will be a Horrible Blow. If you miss, the ability is wasted. If you hit, the victim is affected as if struck with Horrid Wilting in addition to the normal weapon effect.

The wording on this ability is ambiguous about whether it allows a saving throw, given that the book says “ affected as if the subject of Horrid Wilting;” that makes it sound like they’re not being targeted by the spell itself but are just struck with the effect instantly. I certainly hope so! Because otherwise, this falls a bit behind other final Boons.

Horrid Wilting is a nasty spell, but its primary power is the ability to strike an entire crowd of creatures at once. When it’s only able to hit one victim it loses a lot of its appeal. On the plus side, it deals 1d6 untyped damage per level (so 14d6 if you get it ASAP) to any living creature it hits, but on the down side, it specifies living creatures. As always, Constructs and Undead are, as always, able to laugh in the face of this effect without issue. Plant creatures, though, take extra damage! Yeah, take THAT, stupid trees!

Unfortunately, this ability is just sort of boring to talk about. In the end, it’s just a huge burst of untyped damage against a single target 1/day, and missing with the attack costs you the ability for the day. Nothing really special, beyond the fact Horrid Wilting gruesomely mummifies creatures it affects, meaning killing blows with this ability are especially hard for onlookers to watch. It’s not a super strong or fancy Boon, so I’d give it a solid 4/10, with a +1 to it if indeed it offers no saving throw.

You can read more about Ghlaunder here.

[myth-lord]

Mythika’s creatures from African and Arabian myths.

**THE CREATURES FROM AFRICAN MYTHS**

Guiafairo appear as giant bats which have the blood of fae. Their most noticeable ability is blinking and teleporting at rapid speed, which makes them almost immune to ranged attacks. They use their blinking to get into rooms that are locked so they can feast on the fear of their mostly elven and humanoid prey, as bogeys they only feed on their preys fear, but to create fear they sometimes also tear into the flesh.

@rt: https://www.deviantart.com/saeedramez

Adze (African) – Fae (Vermin / Vampire) - Giant vampiric insects with bioluminescence to lure prey close.

Aigamuxa (African) – Humanoid (Giant / Cursed) - Blind desert giants whose eyes are located underneath their feet.

Asanbosam (African) – Fae (Troll / Vampire) - Trolls living in trees, their hands and feet look like hooks.

Chemosit (African) – Aberration (Alien / Psychic) - Parasitic aliens located within the bodies of bears, these tentacle-like parasites eventually break free from within their hosts.

Chipfalamfula (African) – Aberration (Fish / Summoner) - Enormous fresh-water fish which keep their ravenous young inside their maws.

Eloko (African) – Humanoid (Dwarf / Mounted) * - Jungle dwarves which often stand on each other’s shoulders to appear bigger.

Gbahali (African) – Beast (Reptilian) - Much like Kaprosuchus, hunting from ambush in the mountains.

Grootslang (African) – Beast (Reptilian / Chimerae) - Giant behemoths combining the features of both elephants and snakes.

Guiafairo (African) – Fae (Bogey) - Giant fae bats which have the power to teleport or blink.

Guiamala (African) – Beast - Multi-horned Giraffe-like creatures with aggressive tempers.

Intulo (African) – Humanoid (Beastman / Reptilian / Mounted) * - Gecko-like humanoids.

Jba Fofi (African) – Beast (Vermin) - Giant wolf spiders.

Kishi (African) – Demon - Demons of pride and vanity, an ugly demonic face is located on the back of their head.

Kongamato (African) – Beast (Reptilian / Drake) - Mythika’s very own Pterosaur, much like a Pteranodon.

Makalala (African) – Demon (Avian) - Much like demonic Secretary Birds, with very long stilt-like legs.

Mbielu-Mbielu (African) – Plant (Reptilian / Parasite) * - Parasitic algae and moss which grows on the plates of stegosaurs and which turns them hostile and protective of the environment.  

Migas (African) – Aberration - Swamp-based octopi with over twenty tentacles, some even live in trees.

Mngwa (African) – Undead (Tulpa / Cursed) - Undead spectral black lions which only exist and appear during the night.

Mokele-Mbembe (African) – Beast (Reptilian) - Much like a hostile and aggressive Amargasaurus.

Ngoubou (African) – Beast (Reptilian) - Much like a demonic-looking variant of the Styracosaurus, very hostile and aggressive.

Nguma-Monene (African) – Beast (Reptilian / Drake) - Much like a Mosasaurus on steroids, with sharp needle-like spines covering the entire length of its body.

Ninki Nanka (African) – Beast (Reptilian / Drake) - Tanystropheus-like creatures but much more dangerous.

Nyuvwira (African) – Dragon (Reptilian) - Eight-headed Hydra-like dragon serpents, which spit lighting and control gravity around them.

Olitiau (African) – Beast (Vampire) - Giant vampire bats.

Popobawa (African) – Demon (Psychic) - Bat like demons with a single eye which spread chaos and destruction.

Rompo (African) – Beast (Chimerae) - Strange chimerae which control the bones within their bodies, forcing them through their skin to create protective spikes.

Taotie, Khodumodumo (African) – Demon - Extremely large and bloated variants of the Taotie, their cavernous maw can engulf an entire caravan.

Umdhlebi (African) – Plant - Carnivorous plants with three bulb-like heads, very poisonous.

Ya-Te-Veo (African) – Plant (Alien) - Strange alien trees with tentacle-like branches which can walk on their roots.

Yehwe Zogbanu (African) – Fae (Troll) - Giant jungle trolls with giant horns growing all over their backs and heads, they use them to impale their dead future meal on.

Zombie (African) – Undead (Human) - Yeah, the house, kitchen garden variant.

============================

**THE CREATURES FROM MIDDLE EASTERN AND SIMILAR MYTHS**

Apaosha are one of the more vile and dangerous species of Kelpies. They embody the element earth. When they trick victims to ride them they trap them by turning their backs into quicksand, then they slowly turn them into the dust that forms the Apaosha’s very manes and tails. Apaosha are minions (and sometimes mounts) of the Horseman of Famine. 

@rt: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3o9qm2

Acheri (Hindu) – Angel (Cursed) - Small gothic angel girls which look cute but which bring diseases through their arrows, much like evil Cupid.

Aeshma (Persian) – Demon (Summoner) - Much like D&D’s Balor and LOTR’s Balrog, the commanders of most other demons.

Aghash (Persian) – Demon - Beholder-like demons of many eyes, demons of Envy, sight, spying and wrath.

Ahl At-Trab (Arabian) – Elemental (Spirit) * - Sand elementals, living sandstorms.

Amphisbaena, Ouroboros (Egyptian) – Dragon (Reptilian) - Dragon-snakes with heads on both ends of their bodies, one evil black head and one gentle white head.

Apaosha (Arabian) – Demon (Shifter) - The desert and earth variant of the Kelpie, it’s rider-victims will slowly turn to dust.

Asdeev (Persian) – Dragon (Shifter / Reptilian) - Beautiful female white dragons with mist and fog based powers.

Aten (Egyptian) – Elemental (Spirit) - Very powerful light elementals, want to be worshipped like Gods.

Baykok, Airi (Hindu) – Undead (Human / Cursed / Summoner) - More powerful Baykok variants, they hunt for even stronger creatures with their two skeleton dogs at their side.

Caspilly (Persian) – Beast (Fish / Unicorn) - Giant lionfish with very poisonous spikes and a single unicorn-like horn.

Devalpa (Arabian) – Aberration (Parasite / Cursed / Mounted) - Sneaky tricksters with tentacle-like legs which want to ride other creatures and turn them into slaves.

Druj Nasu (Persian) – Demon (Vermin) - Fly demons of pollution, corruption and filth, minions of Beelzebub.

Dulhath (Arabian) – Fae (Troll / Mounted) - Very lazy trolls who ride around on Gallimimus-like creatures.

Dybbuk (Jewish) – Demon (Spirit / Parasite / Psychic) - Demonic spirits which want to possess other creatures, they appear as floating masks, who wears the mask is controlled by the Dybbuk.

Fulad-Zereh (Persian) – Construct (Spirit / Tsukumogami / Cursed) - Animated suits of armor, with the spirit of its former wearer still haunting it.

Gbahali, Petsuchos (Egyptian) – Undead (Reptilian / Cursed) - Ritualistic changed Gbahali, mummified and in possession of light beam attacks and cursed fangs.

Ghul (Arabian) – Undead (Shifter / Genie / Summoner) - Undead spirits of the Genies, controlling dust, sand, darkness and using the bones of their victims as weapons.

Girtablilu (Arabian) – Humanoid (Beastman / Vermin / Centauric) - Half monstrous humanoid, and half scorpion.

Hieracosphinx (Egyptian) – Beast (Avian / Chimerae) * - One of Sets favorite pets, looking much like evil black Griffons.

Hypnalis (Egyptian) – Beast (Reptilian / Mara) - Giant white cobra’s which can kill creatures from within their dreams.

Ichneumon (Egyptian) – Beast - Mongoose like creatures which are expert dragon slayers.

Ifrit (Arabian) – Elemental (Shifter / Genie / Summoner) - The genies of fire, almost demonic in nature and able to control fire.

Jidra (Arabian) – Plant - Much like D&D’s shambling Mounds.

Jokkho (Bengal) – Construct (Spirit / Cursed) - Animated treasures, mostly golden coins, cursed by the greedy former owner.

Juggernaut (Hindu) – Construct (Spirit) - Giant self-mobile war-machines created by the Gods of warfare.

Karkadann (Persian) – Beast (Unicorn) - Aggressive, arrogant desert unicorns with enormous horns.

Karkinos, Saratan (Arabian) – Beast (Vermin) - Very ancient and large Karkinos crabs grow small landscapes on their shells.

Khepri (Egyptian) – Beast (Vermin) - Giant bombardier beetles which shoot different elemental bombs at their enemies, named after a dead Goddess.

Manticore (Persian) – Beast (Vermin / Chimerae) * - Mythika has both winged and wingless variants.

Miraj (Arabian) – Beast (Unicorn) - Agile, deadly and hungry for blood and flesh, these killer unicorn-bunnies are expert killers.

Mummy (Egyptian) – Undead (Human / Cursed / Summoner) * - Cursed and resurrected people of importance which gained a lot of deadly curses at their command.

Penchapechi (Bengal) – Fae (Avian / Spirit) - Giant fae owls which can become incorporeal at will, they never make a sound.

Rakshasa (Hindu) – Demon (Shifter) - The ultimate shapeshifter, taking any humanoid form they remember, evil variant of Doppelgangers.

Raktabija (Hindu) – Humanoid (Vampire / Human / Summoner) - Humans who practice blood-magic, controlling their own blood and turning it into a deadly weapon.

Redjal Marja (Arabian) – Elemental (Shifter / Genie / Summoner) - Very fat and ugly green, genies of polluted water, very lazy and filthy.

Roc (Arabian) – Beast  (Avian) - Enormous elephant and whale hunting monstrous vultures.

Salawa (Egyptian) – Beast * - Another one of Set’s favorite pets, they have bizarre magical powers over darkness and sand.

Scarabs (Egyptian) – Beast (Vermin / Parasite / Swarm) - Swarms of flesh-eating carrion beetles that devour anything within seconds.

Serpopard (Egyptian) – Beast (Reptilian / Chimerae) * - The last of Set’s favorite pets, combining serpent with leopard.

Shadhawar (Persian) – Fae (Unicorn / Summoner) - Antelope-like unicorns which create magical melodies with their horns which change the moods of listeners.

Stymphalian, Asipatra (Hindu) – Construct (Avian) - Stymphalian birds which are created with adamantium instead of bronze.

Urmahlullu (Arabian) – Humanoid (Beastman / Centauric) * - Also known as Liontaurs, half humanoid half lion.

Vish Kanya (Hindu) – Humanoid (Human) - Evil amazons which use poison to their advantage and which are immune to most poisons.

Vish Kanya, Saapin (Hindu) – Humanoid (Human / Summoner / Psychic) - Mostly leaders among the Vish Kanya, these poisonous human women can animate and summon their tattoos.

Zabraq (Arabian) – Dragon (Reptilian) - Desert drakes looking like moloch-reptiles which use their own acid blood as weapon.

Zalambur (Arabian) – Elemental (Shifter / Genie / Summoner) - Very greedy, golden-skinned genies, with power over air and metal.

[tearofisha]

Stand of the Silvered Sling.

"Talrendil, watch the right flank!" Bimachus screamed as he dispatched another Cultist.

Spinning on the spot, Talrendil instantly took the order and fired his Shuriken Catapult into the face of a human attempting to climb onto the thin, rusted railing his squad occupied.

His target down, his focus returned to the disorganised morass of desperate humanity approaching his position. The whispering influence of The Blood God had corrupted the population of the foundry world into an insane, violent group of revolutionaries. The slaughter of all Imperial authority on the world meant the cult grew exponentially until intervention was required. Craftworld Ulthwe was to be that intervention.

Elsewhere on the mega foundry, Warlocks and Seers supported the advance of Wraithguard attempting to deliver a World Breaker bomb into the heart of the foundry. The act of planetary destruction was not one considered lightly, but the size of the Cult numbered into thousands and the feverish worship of all corrupting Gods only created escalating problems further down the road. So it lay with Talrendil and his squad to provide a distraction for the Cultists and to protect the retreat of the Seers.

Fighting was brutal, the Cultists threw themselves at the lines of Dire Avengers with insane abandon and were repelled by disciplined Shuriken fire, over and over again without care for losses.

Bimachus saw him first. A hulking monstrosity of a man clad in bloody bronze armour raised two axes over his head and let out a war cry that rallied his nearby kin.

"Blood for the Blood God!" it snarled. "Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"Khornate bastards." the Exarch spat, holstering one of the two Shuriken Pistols to draw his Dire sword instead. "Hold the line, sons of Asuryan. The Champion is mine"

The Exarch leapt from the bridge onto the bloody ground below. His high crested helmet and ritual armour marked him out as a figure of importance to the Aeldari and the Champion took the bait. His cohorts followed, unarmoured and uncaring into the waiting guns of the Dire Avengers and they fell long before they could touch the Exarch. But the brute was unharmed as he charged with bloodthirsty determination.

Both axes swung in a brutal ark that would have dismembered Bimachus had he not stepped aside moment's before. A second swipe followed that the Exarch ducked by mere inches, his red crest being shortened considerably by the cleaving axe. Bimachus baited a response with his blade but instead placed two shots under the arm pit of the snarling Champion, earning a snarl of pain from beneath the brass helmet of his foe. A series of deft parries allowed more shots from the Exarchs pistol to land in soft tissue and the Khornish fighter screamed in growing frustration.

Animal instincts abounded, too fast for the Exarch to avoid and a mighty fist slammed into the helmet of Bimachus, throwing him to the ground. In a flash, the Beast had mounted the grounded Exarch and savage fists began to reign down furiously. His advantage sealed, the wounded Champion took up his axe and forced it toward the throat of the prone Avenger. Only grim determination and decades of training stopped the blade in his hands but Bimachus' strength was failing and every heartbeat saw it drift closer to his body.

This is the end he thought with spiteful irony. Five thousand years the priest of the Silvered Sling and this is how I die. In the mud, blood and entrails beneath an insane Chaos worshipper.

But the weight relented. His death did not come as he had expected, in fact it was the Champion that rolled forward lifelessly, his head removed from his body. Talrendil stood behind the dead Cultist, both hands clasping the Diresword lost before the beat down began. Were it not for his helmet, the open jawed shock of Talrendil would have been obvious, the Diresword took apart the Cultist like paper. He almost felt sick.

Returning to his feet, Bimachus nodded his thanks and beckoned his squad down to him.

"Come, the bomb will be planted, let us drive back these vermin and escort the Seers out."

The Exarch nodded at Talrendil, who was still clutching the blade and extended his holstered Shuriken Pistol in exchange. The Dire Sword returned to its sheath with an elegant hum and Talrendil took the Exarchs weapon, perplexed.

"Keep it, Asuryani. A reminder of your deeds here today. Now, to victory."

The young warrior took a moment to let the honour wash over him. The bestowing of an Exarchs weapon to an initiate was a rare boon, especially to one with the inexperience of Talrendil. He placed the pistol in his holster, took a deep breath and let the pride wash through his body. Then he returned to his squad to finish the mission.

[bluebird167]

The Sinners and Their Saints Chapter 13: The Werewolf and The Jewel Witch Part 1

"Okay Frida calm down." Manny said trying to calm the shivering girl.

"Oh God." She said. "Oh God. I'm so sorry I just...I just can't stop shaking."

"It's okay. It's alright."

"Manny I'm scared. What's happening to me?"

"I don't know for sure but I promise you, you're alright."

"That woman...Did she hurt you bad? You're bleeding."

"What happened to me is not important. Right now it's late and you've been through a lot so I'm taking you home."

"But you're bleeding."

"I'll be fine I promise."

He took her back to the manor and tucked her into bed. She was very shaken up but fell asleep easily. He then set up a barrier that would ensure that no one could enter her room or the manor without his permission. He knew what kind of power she had used, he had only seen it once and it frightened him that Frida had that power and didn't know how to use it meaning she'd be an easy target for hundreds of demons.

"Great my job just got a whole lot more difficult." He thought.

A few weeks later they got a call to exterminate a ghost that had invaded the home of a wealthy family.

"So who's our client?" Dipper asked.

"They're called the Northwests. They're supposed to be very rich and very aristocratic." Connie said.

"Northwest? Why does that name ring a bell? I know I've heard it somewhere."

Dipper's memory of that name quickly returned when they arrived at a familiar mansion, where a familiar blonde with icy blue eyes, wearing a long purple dress with a split, brown stockings, and heels was waiting for them.

"Oh no!" Dipper groaned. "Her."

"Well it's about time!" She snapped. "I was expecting you five minutes ago and- Wait a minute these are the professionals my father hired?"

"Hey we may not look the part but we are experts on this." Frida stated proudly.

"Whatever. Listen you're a nun right?"

"Yeah."

"Huh I always wondered why young girls chose to be nuns but I guess if you're too ugly to get a boyfriend why not date God? He loves you no matter how ugly you are right?"

"Excuse me?"

"Follow me and I shall explain everything."

They followed her down a hallway that had walls fool of wild animals that had been stuffed and mounted. There were bears, mountain lions, boars, deer, foxes, and wolves. Dipper swallowed hard, seeing all these animals like this made him sick to his stomach.

"Are these animals real?" Dipper asked.

"Yes my father hunted them down and had them stuffed. He's quite the hunter." Pacifica bragged. "The best hunter in Maine."

"I see....Well you guys must have a lot of meat to eat then huh?"

"We don't eat them. We only eat expensive meet made by gourmet chefs."

"So he kills them for sport?"

"Yes pretty much."

"That's cruel and disgusting." Dipper growled.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. What your father does is terrible and beastly."

"Oh so when my father kills it's terrible and beastly? Well what about when those dirty wolves kill?"

"A wolf only kills to eat and to protect itself or it's pack. Your father murdered these animals for sport and pride and that makes him a revolting creature."

"Don't talk about my father like that! And for your information these filthy vermin are better off dead. Good riddance I say!"

"So I'm guessing you're not an animal lover?" Steven asked.

"Of course not! I despise the dirty beasts! But let's get down to business. Next week my parents will be holding a huge gala but there's this ghost who keeps terrorizing our house and we can't have that it's bad for publicity. So I want this ghost exorcised tonight."

"Well we can't promise that it will be done tonight." Connie said. "When it comes to removing ghosts it's a very tricky matter. They're already dead so we can't just shoot with a sliver bullet or stake em in the heart. It may take time."

"How long are we talking here?" Pacifica asked.

"Well it depends in some cases it might last for years."

"Years? Oh no! I want the job done tonight!"

"We can't promise that."

"You can and you will you bag of bones! Or none of you will get the money you were promised! Now get to work!"

She then turned to her heels and walked away.

"Bag of bones? Was she saying I'm too skinny?" Connie asked insulted.

"She called me ugly." Frida said.

"Okay who hates her?" Dipper asked.

"Me." Manny said.

"I do." Frida said.

"Ditto." Steven said.

"Double ditto." Connie added.

"Well her folks are paying us big money so let's just keep our mouths shut, do our job, get paid, and get the hell out of here." Manny said.

They began to set up their equipment which Sister Nora had provided. This equipment was specially made for exorcising ghosts and spirits. One of the tools used was a small machine designed to pick up and track spectral energy if it was near the area. The other tools included a device that could contain spirits and force them to crossover to heaven or hell. The whole reason why ghost exist in our world in the first place is because sometimes when people die they leave behind unfinished business. So instead of moving on their souls linger somewhere between earth and the afterlife, though there is not much they can do. For most of the time ghosts are like air, you can't see them, hear them, or touch them but you can feel them and sometimes you know they're there.

Now there are the occasions where the ghosts who have a very strong will can been seen by the living which is known as haunting and then there are the humans born with the ability to see and communicate with the spirits. But one of the rarest cases of all was when a ghost was reincarnated. Most of the time when people die with unfinished business they stay behind as ghosts but in extremely rare cases, the lost soul is reborn in a different body. However cases like that only happen if one dies using touching the stone of new life. A very rare stone about the size of an eye which looks like a glass marble, if anyone dies with unfinished business while touching it then many years after that person's death they will be reincarnated.

"Hey I think I've got something." Dipper said checking the machine used to track spectral energy. "There's definitely a ghost around here."

"Where is it?" Steven asked.

"I don't know it keeps moving around from one area to another. Must be a very active ghost."

"It's an angry one." Frida said. "I can feel it's rage, it's hot and boiling."

"Oh yeah you can talk to ghosts."

"I can't exactly talk to them but I can understand them and this one furious at the Northwests."

"Any reason why?"

"I have no clue."

"Well first we should try to find it. We''ll split up to cover more ground."

Manny and Frida searched the middle level of the mansion, Steven and Connie searched the bottom level, while Dipper searched the top level. Dipper didn't know much about spirits except for what he had read in books. Frida had said that this ghost had a great anger toward the Northwests so maybe helping this ghost come to terms with it's anger would make it easier for them to remove it. Of course he didn't know how he would figure out what the Northwests had done to anger this spirit however he wouldn't had blamed him for his anger. After all these people were rude, stuck up, snobby, pushy, and mean or at least their daughter was.

"Pacifica aren't those damn exorcists finished yet!" Dipper heard a voice shout angrily.

He followed the shout to see Pacifica talking with a man who he assumed was her father.

"It's been three hours! What's taking them so long?!"

"They said it would take awhile." She replied to the man nervously.

"How long?"

"I don't know, they said it might even take years."

"That's not good enough!"

"It's not my fault!"

"I don't care!" He slapped her which made Dipper jump back. "Now they better have this problem fixed or you'll be sorry!"

He walked away, leaving her alone. Once he was gone she wrapped her arms around herself and scrunched up her face as if she was trying to keep herself from crying.

"Are you okay?" Dipper asked.

"What are you doing here?!" She cried. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

"Sorry I just wanted to see if-"

"I said go away!" She cried.

"Okay sheesh!"

He left her and continued searching.

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Ninety-Nine

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

Maebh walked around carefully, making sure to no danger to her, a dagger in hand. She halted as she heard someone walking down on a corridor, she saw no means of escape, so readying to strike, she got into position. As soon as she saw the foot of her enemy, she lunged at him causing the pair to fall to the floor. Her dagger to his throat.

‘Meabh!’

Maebh stared at the person under her in shock. It took her a moment to realise she knew him. ‘Sean?’

‘You are alive, thank God.’ She got off him and allowed him to get to his feet again, but she kept her distance eyeing him suspiciously. ‘There is no need to worry, princess, my alliances lie where they always have, with you and your family.’

‘How are you here?’ She heard another coming towards them but she did not have time to hide herself. When the person came into view, she exhaled and felt the dagger slip through her fingers and fall to the floor. She ran forward and found herself jumping into the man's arms, giving him a kiss as she did. ‘I have always been so fond of you but I have never been so happy to see you.’

Thor held her to him for a moment as though he was clutching onto life itself. ‘Nor I, you Maebh.’ He looked at her fondly before looking to her stomach. ‘The baby?’ He asked worriedly.

‘How safe is it to leave here?’ She half demanded.

‘Getting safer by the moment, the man who called himself the High King of Ireland has fled with his men, all that are left are the soldiers of the Lord that resided here, but he too fled.’ Thor informed her.

‘I need to get the children.’ Maebh turned and headed back the way she had come, Thor followed her having sworn to himself not to let her out of his sight until she was safe once more. When she got to the room she had hidden the children in, Maebh all but pounded on the door. ‘Danu, it is me, open the door, we are getting out of here.’ Not a moment later, the door was unbolted. Danu had barely stuck her head around the door to ensure it was just her mother made her way into the room, rushing to the bed where Einar was still sleeping and bringing him into her arms.

‘It was born?’ Thor walked in, relieved to see Danu safe and a small infant in Maebh’s arms. As soon as Danu saw her uncle she rushed to him, Thor bringing her into his arms and cradling her close, kissing the side of her head. ‘Hello, my precious little niece.’ He beamed in elation. ‘Would you like to come home?’

‘More than anything in the world.’

Thor was about to playfully continue the conversation when he noticed something on the rug. ‘That is the afterbirth?’ he looked to Maebh. ‘You have just birthed?’

‘I helped,’ Danu beamed in pride.

‘He is not an hour old.’ Maebh told him.

‘Most women do not get out of bed for a day after they birth, I often wonder are you truly different to all others or do you do these things just to be different.’ Thor shook his head and smiled.

‘I am on enemy soil, I have men who have said they want to take my children from me and raise them to be nothing more than spoils of war here on Midgard, to have them forget who and what they are and become believers in the Midgardian faith. How can I think it to rest until I had them safe again?’

‘For one who does not believe in the Gods, you are terribly blessed.’ Thor chuckled.

‘If I get out of this alive, if I get my children back to Asgard, I may have to reconsider my beliefs.’

‘Well then, I think it's best that we leave.’ Maebh noticed that Thor had yet to put her daughter out of his arms again. Even as he walked through the doorway, he held onto her, Maebh following behind, Einar in hers.

They made a way through the dwelling without issue. When they reached outside, there was a small cheer when Thor was seen, and an even louder one when the men from Asgard that had been fighting alongside some of the Midgardians recognised the black-haired, Green eyed little girl looking at them from his arm. When Maebh emerged she smiled to see familiar faces.

‘For one that looks as though she has seen the very pits of Hell, you still stand tall.’ Heimdall grinned as he bowed slightly to her.

‘I have been to them and told them to tidy up for we are about to send many their way.’ Maebh gave a small smile. ‘Where is Loki?’

‘He and others made their way to another dwelling, we were unsure exactly where the children would be. if I am honest, we were told that you had already died, but that Danu was alive. The information we have gathered told us that she had either been moved to that location or was at this one. We could not risk her being in one and a message getting to it from the other that we were here and them doing something to her.’ Thor explained looking at his niece and smiling. ‘We could never let anything happen to you, could we?’

‘Nope.’ Danu cuddled into her uncle, her arms around his neck. ‘Why is your hair different? It is all gone.’

‘Because an Asgardian my size does not blend in easily. To make them not realise who I was, I had to look something like them.’

‘You look silly.’ Danu stated in a factual manner. The men laughed at the child's innocent comment.

‘You are your father’s daughter.’ Thor chuckled.

‘I am his image and my mother’s manner.’

‘I will say nothing.’ Thor looked to Maebh, the pair smiling at one another. ‘All things considered, this was easier than I thought it would be.’

‘Never say anything like that, that only invites trouble.’ Maebh warned.

‘That is true actually.’ Thor acknowledged. ‘Would you rather we got a cart?’

‘No too slow and lumbering, get me a horse and a large length of material, clean and not too hard.’

Thor looked to one of the men and gave a small nod, the man nodded back and rushed off to guess what she requested. ‘Forgive me for asking Maebh, but will this not hurt, considering.’ He indicated to Einar.

‘I am already in pain, what is a little bit more?’

‘I often wonder you just court suffering for this sheer joy of it.’

‘Perhaps some of my parents' faith still resides within me. Their faith dictates that one must suffer in this life to be rewarded in the next.’

‘Yes, I think you do have such in you, for I have never seen one to willingly suffer as you do.’

‘Well, outside of Sif of course.’ Maebh jested as a horse was brought to her, Thor giving her a bemused look.

‘We have missed your humour,’ Heimdall chuckled as he mounted his own horse.

When given the piece of cloth, Maebh used it to tightly secure Einar to her chest, leaving her hands free so that she could hold the reins of the horse. Thor mounted his horse but only after putting his niece on the front of his saddle. He made sure she sat back against him and kept an arm around her as he gently because his horse to walk forward.

They did not travel for long before a single rider came towards them. Maebh was concerned, not liking that she had very little idea of what was afoot, Thor, however, seems somewhat relieved to see the young man. ‘Well?’ He spoke.

‘The dwelling was empty, not a man, woman or child within of any note.’ The man, a Midgardian, informed them.

‘But there were people within?’

‘Yes Sire, as the intelligence told us, they were anticipating the High King, as well as his entourage and also two children, one an infant. Your brother has a trap ready for them.’

‘Norns, I would not like to be the man who tells my brother what plans were made for his children.’ Thor grinned, looking around at Maebh.

‘Oh no, perhaps we should stop them.’ Maebh’s voice was toneless but then she grinned wickedly. ‘I only hope that they do not miss their little welcome committee, or us with them.’

‘What do you suggest?’

‘Get Danu and Einar somewhere safe, get me some armour and let us join them for the lovely little meeting.’

‘You have just birthed.’ Heimdall pointed out.

‘Exactly, that means there is nothing stopping me from gutting these pigs like the diseased vermin they are.’

‘You are not of this world.’

‘What makes you think that?’ She looked up for a moment and made a small whistle. Only a moment later, Morrigan, who had flown off her shoulder in the hallway when she had attacked Sean and had not made its way back to her after, flew down from the skies and landed on her shoulder once more.

‘There is a story behind that.’ Thor pointed to the bird. ‘I do not know what it is, I do not even know if I am going to be told it, but there is a story.’

‘There is time enough for stories once we are on the boat home.’ Maebh smiled. ‘We need to hurry, UíNeill and his men will reach the convoy soon.’

Fandral and a few others took the two children and brought them to a known safe area. Thor, Maebh, Heimdall and the others continued on to where they knew Loki and his party to be. On route, Maebh was presented with her armour which Loki had insisted on bringing with them as well as her own clothes. Two minutes and a quick change behind a bush and Maebh was ready. Mounting a horse once more, she brought it to the side Thor and looked at him almost gleefully.

‘How much do you wish to make them suffer?’

‘I want as many to be kept alive as is possible. When this is done, I want them lined up in front of me and as soon as I pointed them, know that they are mine. I will deal with them. I will be the one to make them suffer.’

‘So, you were called a whore again I assume?’ Thor looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

‘Among other things.’ Maebh shrugged unapologetically.

Thor looked at her for another moment before looking to the men, ‘Well, you heard her, all survivors are to be held in that manner, understood?’ There was a shout of understanding before they rode on. Sure enough, they got to the area of the other homestead as the battle was being fought. There were men fleeing as the home seemed to be beginning to smoulder.

‘Do you recognise any of them?’ Thor looked to Maebh. Her answer was unsheathing her sword and looking to him for permission to ride on. ‘Like I could stop you.’ He laughed, taking out his own weapon. He gave a call out and all those there began to charge towards those fleeing locality. Morrigan took flight but remained above Maebh as her horse galloped towards the first of the men.

With her sword in her hand, she paid close attention to every detail of the men's attire so as to pertain who they were allied with. As soon as she saw UíNeill’s emblem, she sneered and swung her sword, decapitating him as she did, riding on as she changed what hand the sword was in for her next opponent. She made her way through them all until she got to the worst of the fighting, in amongst it all were Lord Conor and UíNeill. The pair looking menacingly at the man in front of them, both knowing that as it was two on one, they held the advantage.

‘Such a deadly pair you are but are you more deadly than us?’ The three men looked around in shock. ‘Hello, husband.’ She smiled, looking at Loki, he looked at her as though she was a Valkyrie sent by the Norns. She sneered at the now concerned looking men, who seemed to realise they were in trouble. ‘Good to see you had faith in finding me.’ She indicated to her attire he had brought for her.

‘I never doubted it.’

[gallusrostromegalus]

"amuse me": depa billaba and mace windu

It is a very, very difficult thing to be a fourteen-year-old girl.   Everything is emotionally exhausting, your skin doesn’t fit and one is becoming disgustingly aware of the staggering stupidity of all sapient beings.

It is harder still, to be Fourteen and awkward and annoyed and apprentice to The Most Respected Master in The Jedi Order, where one is forced to adhere to decorum while the Worst ideas civilization has to offer are on display up close and personal.

Depa sat across from the senator, trying to maintain a straight face as the Senator proposed that moving the republican naval fleet to the base on Glee Ansem was a bad idea.

“Would you care to elaborate?” Master Windu asked, face like a granite wall.  Maybe she’d learn how to do that someday.  Today, she’d settle for not actually screaming at this imbicile’s plodding insensibility/

“Well, I’m worried that the Mass of that many troops may cause the island to become unbalanced and...”  he made a turning-over motion with his hands.

Mace blinked and Depa stared.  There was NO WAY-

“If I am to understand you correctly-”  Master Windu spoke slowly. “You are worried that the island will... tip over?”

“Yes!  That would be disasterous for the citizens!”  the senator sat back, pleased to have found an apparent ally in his quest to prevent htis obvious disaster.

“The Island. Named Gurig Sea Mount.  Because it is a mountain.  Firmly attached to the continental plate.”  Mace continued, lightly prodding Depa’s shoulder with the Force to get her to close her mouth, which had fallen open with disbelief.  

“Yes!”  the senator nodded eagerly, not about to back down from his entirely indefensible position.  He began to prattle on about how HIS home planet would be a much better choice, strategically speaking, not to mention the business that would come to his district if a military installation had to be built-

Master Windu steepled his fingers in front of his face, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. The senator continued, as Mace cracked an eye open and glanced at Depa’s pained expression.  Slowly, his face morphed into a cheshire-like grin.  It vanished after a second and mace cleared his throat.

“If I may Senator-  What about the Deckpeckers?”

WHAT?  glared Depa.  What the hell was a Deckpecker?  the Senator seemed equally baffled, staring at them like a tooka in headlights.

“Pest avians, probably originally from Skantoon-5, the navy is practically infested with them.”  Mace continued and Depa fought to cock an eyebrow at him.  Skantoon-5 was a fictional planet from the Pirates of the Endless Seas holovids.

“They hide in the ducts and come out at night and eat deckworms, so the navy isn’t about to get rid of them- a sort of industrialist symbiotic relationship, if you will- but the introduction of deckpeckers to your system would be DISASTROUS, I fear.”  he nodded gravely.  Depa suddenly realized what was happening and nodded in agreement.

“Oh yes, very invasive and dangerous in the wrong enviornment-” She jumped in. “-they’ll drill anything with thier little beaks.  Once popped an O-ring on the Gintula-17 mining station when there was a shortage of worms.  Had to shut down the whole operation for a month.”

“Precisely.”  Mace agreed, and she could hear the pride in his voice. “They were introduced to Glee Ansem several centuries ago, so the locals have had time to adapt, but the initial spread of the beasts was almost apocalyptic for them-  they blew up a nuclear plant trying to look for worms in the main reactor.”

“Good Heavens!” The senator gasped, looking stricken.  “Why haven’t they extinguished the vermin?”

“They’re very good with cheese.” Said Depa, and felt Mace twitch as he tried to supress a snort of laughter.  “It took a major industrial overhaul, but they’ve roughly deckpecker-proofed thier cites now.  They breed so fast and are so good at getting into tight spaces there’s no getting them out once they’ve arrived on a planet.  Now they’re something of a local delicacy.”

The senator nodded gravely in agreement.  “So the best we can hope for is to contain them?”

“precisely.” Mace nodded. “Hence, my initial assesment that the fleet be moved to Glee Ansem.”

“I quite agree!”  the senator nodded enthusiastically.  “A most sensible suggestion!  I don’t want the fleet anywhere near my homeworld!”****

“That was wicked.” Depa grinned up at mace as they left the senatorial building.

“Sometimes you find people whose brains live on elaborate fiction.”  he sighed, stretching almost high enough to touch the frame of the oversized doorway.  “I find it is both easier and more effective to combat it with your own narrative.”  He paused in his stretching as a loud gurgle eminated between them.“Sorry.”  Depa ran her fingers through her hair.  “I had breakfast but I;m still hungry.”“You’re a growing girl.” Mace shrugged. “Let’s go find something and I’ll tell you about the Great Flying Whales of Untaani-VI.”

[talodarravenwing]

The Story of Talo'Dar Ravenwing, Thus far (Redux)

Talo'Dar is one of few beings on Azeroth who can proudly claim to be among the oldest remaining people the planet has known…at least when he can remember that much. Old age has a funny way of influencing how ones mind works when you live for so long, especially when you’ve lived as long as he has. Talo'Dar has the distinct disadvantage in this field, having been born long before the world changing War of the Ancients so very long ago. In fact, by Kaeldori standards, Talo'Dar would have been considered a middle aged man at that point. A middle aged man finding himself right in the heart of the conflict, right at the queens side. Talo'Dar had been born for magic. From the moment of his first crying breaths at birth the life giving energy of the arcane flowed through the young elfs body as easily as his blood. This unusual proficiency in arcane magic brought even the queen of the Kaeldori’s eyes upon him. Such an event was almost unheard of, and perhaps it would’ve been better for the Night Elf if he hadn’t gotten that attention as he grew older. From the moment he could crawl, Talo'Dar was taken from his home and placed in the custody of the Highborne. His destiny from that moment on would be forever tied to magic, and to the fate of the Highborne. Growing up among the upper echelons of the Highborne Council gave Talo'Dar a very skewed view of the world and those less fortunate than himself. Raised in such a way made him care little for the lower classes of the Kaeldori people to a point where one dying in front of him wouldn’t warrant any kind of response from the young man. Even more than that, his attitude belittled any outside of the circle as nothing more than insects, vermin. This kind of attitude earned Talo'Dar many an unpleasant nickname in his time and more than one enemy. It mattered not to the magus. The only thing that Was important to him was furthering his own position within the Highborne’s Inner Circle by any means needed, and growing ever more powerful in his arcane ways. The Illuminated One, as Talo'Dar would eventually come to be known as, a title the now slightly aging Kaeldori wore with pride. At this stage in his life there was little left in the ways of the Arcane the magus hadn’t yet at least explored, and just as little that he couldn’t use at least at some level. Talo'Dar also found himself in a position of relative power amongst the Highborne people, with nearly nothing going unheard or seen by him within the Circle. It is to be said that even with this position however, even he was incapable of seeing what the Queen of the Kaeldori had planned for his people. When the first gate opened the way for demons to walk upon Azeroth, Talo'Dar found himself among the few chosen to greet the new guests and allies of the Highborne and the rest of the Kaeldori people. Talo'Dar, to the surprise of none, openly accepted this job and the new forces that now marched upon his world. His eagerness to obey his queen and work with this Legion awarded the mage many things, a new title and powers among them. Embracing fully the new magic gifted to the Highborne, Talo'Dar was almost born anew. He took to this Fel magic as if it and it’s gifts were the power he were destined to weild, and in a way, they were. The Fel flames became the mages most defining aspect as he spent more time in the company of the Legions demons. Practicing and mastering this new art with more vigor than he had ever pursued anything up to this point. The way he called upon the demons powers it came as no surprise the rate at which the corrupting properties of their magics began to take hold of the Night Elfs form. Eyes quickly dulled from shocking blue to caustic cloudy green. Veins soon pulsed faintly like Fel flame coursed in place of blood. His skin dulled until Gray and ashen, hair following soon behind darkening like his very soul until wild, frayed and black as burnt wood. Worse still Fel sores soon poked his skin and have off an eerie glow much like his eyes, and his body huched as bone and muscle bent and stretched. Becoming malformed as he had did not put a stop to Talo'Dars pursuit of this new power though. No. The mutations thrilled him and drove him to chase after more and more. When the War of the Ancients finally broke loose among his people, Talo'Dar seemed more demon than elf even amongst the others of the circle. He had become feared by friend and for alike and was battled against as though he were any other demon. Such words and views though only filled the Fel mage with burning accomplished pride. He had become something else, something powerful, something to fear. He felt right where he belonged…and when eventually the portals of the Legion were forced closed and the Moon Well was made to collapse, Talo'Dar too was dragged into the failing portal along with the demons that day, and for thousands of years, Azeroth would not see his face again. Countless ages were spent in agonizing torment for the malformed Night Elf after the War of the Ancients. The failure on the part of the Highborne was put upon his shoulders as well as few others of his people who had the misfortune of being claimed by the Well. There was only one difference between these other elves and Talo’Dar however, and that was Talo’Dar went willingly into the collapsing rift, chasing ever after more power refusing to let it escape his grasp. He hadn’t however counted on the torture that he would endure over his stay in the Twisting Nether. It became all the Night Elf knew. Fel and madness consumed the mage until there was nothing left of his former self. Talo’Dar ceased to exist, and in his place a twisted husk was left. Left without a sense of self the former Kaeldori mage was molded into a Fel fueled killer with only the barest hints of humanity left behind. It was countless lifetimes before this withered husk would again breath the fresh air of his homeworld again, and even that would be fleeting. It wasn’t until the Battle of Mount Hijaal that Talo’Dar returned to Azeroth. Burning into existence as hatred incarnate along side other demons of the Legion. It was an exhilarating experience returning at long last to the world that he once called home. There was no sense of nostalgia however, the only things he truly felt was a need to test his new powers against the old ways he once mastered and a thirst to take life upon life of his former people. Felfire feel like rain from the sky as he marched forth with the Legion and earth turned lifeless each corrupted step he took. The once mage made near demon reveled in the glory of the new war before him. Basking in the fields of blood and and fire wrought by his hand. Something though was missing. The fel mage longed for something from a life long past. longed for the freedom he once had, unrestricted by others, left to his own actions. It was something that he demanded…these demands were not taken well by his Legion masters though, and punishment would be soon to follow for his disobedience.   After the battle for Mount Hijaal, Talo’Dar would be found among the countless fallen soldiers that scattered the mountaintop. Wounds would suggest that he was struck down by the forces of Azeroth, but in truth it was the soldiers of the Legion that placed the killing blows against the former elf. The Burning Legion did not take kindly to free will and disobedience from its pawns, nor did they allow planned deserters to just walk away with their lives. It was these things that brought death crashing down upon Talo’Dar, ending his hopes and ambitions quicker than a candles flame getting snuffed out.This wouldn’t be the end for the fel mage though, in fact, it would be the start of yet another beginning for the ancient soul, and this new beginning would be one that would last forever more…or so the mage would say. Death wouldn’t stake its claim over Talo’Dar for long before he was ripped from the shadows and brought back into the light of Azeroth. There was something different though, something the mage couldn’t place at first. It wasn’t until clawed hands came to a rest on his bare chest that he discovered what the cause of the feeling was. A large shard stuck out of Talo’Dar’s chest. Green and glowing just how any other object tainted by Fel would. The shard pulsed with burning power that the mage could feel coursing through his entire body, like fire searing through his veins causing endless angusih. Despite the pain, the reborn elf could sense that without this felshard he wouldn’t be alive to even feel the pain it brought him. The shard would be impossible to remove as well as parts of his flesh seemed fused to the crystaline invader, and the cavernous hole it filled in his chest was mostly sewn shut around it as well, small metal bands welded to his skin seemed to complete the haphazard patchwork that held the object in place. Taking a moment to draw in his new surrounding, the former elf would discover he was in some kind of dungeon, chained to a large blood stained alter of some sort. One the floor around him demonic runes and skeletons littered the room completely. The smell of death hung heavy in the air around him and filled him with a hunger he could not begin to explain. Further examination revealed even more damage to his body than initially thought. The fel sores that once dotted his skin seemed to have completely eroded the skin and muscle from around most of his arms and legs. His skin pulled tight across his ribs allowing the ones nearest the felshard to cut through to the surface. Hands twisted into claw-like appendages that oozed fel tainted blood and teeth elongated and grew long enough for it to be impossible for his mouth to stay closed. Worse yet, he discovered to his alarm that his eyes were no nothing more than sunken pits filled with burning flame..trying to investigate further by probing brought nothing but more pain to the mage. It wasn’t long until the somber truth of what was washed over the mage…he had died. He was Still dead, and yet, somehow he lived..in a way. He knew of necromancy and its workings, and yet he could not explain his new existence. The hunger is all he could think of now. It was all he could focus on, and for many years to come it would be all he knew, trapped in this dungeon…a prisoner.

[steveshipmanphotography]

Knowing the date of the next consultation with the oncologist, I rashly book a place on a cycle sportive in Norfolk. My feeling is that whatever he says, I’m going to do that ride. Every last mile.

We are making a weekend of it. Manda has booked us into a cheeky Mr and Mrs Smith hotel, and I am here at Fakenham Racecourse, the start and finish of the ride, nervously fixing my number to my handlebars. I am surrounded by hundreds of other riders, all shapes and sizes, most of them keen to get underway. Manda sees me off at the start line, and my timed group of 30 or so heads of down the track. Immediately we have a choice – turn right for the 45 mile course, turn left for the 73 mile course.

I turn left.

Groups of riders are set off about two minutes apart. My groups spreads out quickly, and within a couple of miles I am riding alone. The flash Harrys have leapt ahead, the more moderates are behind me. Pacing myself is difficult – with excitement and nerves I can easily increase pace unsustainably. I steady myself and ease off a little.

The north Norfolk countryside is rolling, open, big skies, and windy. The anticlockwise circuit is a large wobbly oval, the start at the southernmost tip. Gradually turning north I am buffeted by blustery wind coming over The Wash from the North Sea. I pass other cyclists who are struggling. Only twice over the course do I chat alongside other riders until our pace changes or we lose each other at feed stops. But I am happy in my own company, consciously trying to be in the moment, pedalling, breathing, appreciating the passing landscape, the sky, the light.

10 kilometres to the finish. The small orange sign makes me laugh out loud – I can do this. Hell, I’ve almost done it. 5 kilometres. I’m smiling all the way. I’ve managed to pace myself well, eaten all my energy bars, drunk all my bottles. There is the inflatable Finish line. Amanda is there and I feel a huge wave of relief and pride wash over me. I feel emotional as I write this. It is a big deal. I receive my finisher’s medal from a smiley marshal, and I feel like I’m being knighted. Ridiculous. But there it is.

I averaged exactly 16 miles and hour, and rode 73.18 miles in 4 hours and 46 minutes (do follow me on Strava if you fancy). I finished in the Silver category, only 6 minutes outside the Gold category. Should have gone faster!

  A few days earlier, I am sitting with Amanda in the gloomily familiar consulting room at Mount Vernon, or Mount Vermin, as a friend’s spell-checker prefers. The young man who comes into the room is not my oncologist, but one of his registrars. A perfectly capable doctor, no doubt, just not mine. I feel disconcerted by his inevitable lack of familiarity with my cancer history. He introduces himself as Mo.

He does his best, clearly only just having read my notes. He tells us that I have 5 more lesions on my liver, one of them is 3 centimetres. There are two old ones that have calcified as a result of the previous chemo treatment, and are no longer a concern. He says that as I responded so well to the chemo I had before, I am to have another 3 sessions, starting at the end of November.

Despite having thought there would be some further growth of the cancer, I am still saddened to have the suspicion confirmed. Mo is optimistic, and we agree that the same chemo regime should have the same effect again and dramatically reduce or calcify the new tumours. When we speak to our Macmillan nurse a few days later, she says that people are having two or three chemo sessions a year to effectively manage their cancer. She says it’s the new normal.

I have strict words with myself. I remind myself that when All This started back in March, I was very poorly with chronic anaemia and a non-existent fitness level. I’m now fitter than I have been in years. I know I bang on about diet, but I’m convinced that has also made a difference. My bloods are all back to normal, or as we say now normal-normal, as opposed to new-normal levels, which are good for an ill person. It’s all about context.

So I’m good and ready for the next bout.

Seconds out. Round 2.

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Bike images courtesy of SportivePhoto

Seconds Out Knowing the date of the next consultation with the oncologist, I rashly book a place on a cycle sportive in Norfolk.

[the-christian-walk]

WOE TO (PART 1)

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com. In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”

 Luke 6:24

 This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

 If you only read the Gospel of Matthew, you would come away thinking Jesus only spoke of the blessings certain groups of people would receive. We looked at nine such statements in a recent series of devotions simply titled, “Blessed Are”. But as we have seen in our studies, there is a parallel account of what Jesus said found in Luke’s Gospel and it’s there that we find Jesus adding a series of woes, woes that stand in contrast to His proclaimed blessings, woes we’ll look at in the four part series: Woe To.

 Look at the first verse from Jesus’ woe proclamations here:

 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”  Luke 6:24

What was Jesus getting at here?

 So many people in His time were reliant on their riches or consumed with the attainment of more. These people had their hearts centered on things of the world instead of the wealth of the kingdom of God. They were their own masters, self reliant and self sufficient, reveling with pride in the midst of their own accomplishments and achievements. There was no need for God’s guidance because they were doing just fine guiding themselves and paving their own paths.

 In other words, these people were comfortable (and were comforted) by everything they had earned and everything they had. And it was to this audience that Jesus promised woe to, a woe that is punctuated by anguish, despair, sorrow, and misery.

 Do you fit that category today? Have you become fixated on your possessions, your work and successes, your intellect and self generated wisdom?

 If so, if you find yourself lumped in with the type of people Jesus was describing in this verse from Luke, then Jesus has some guidance for you as He did for them, a guidance we will examine closer in a later devotion but one that bears mentioning here. Look at these words, also found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”  Matthew 6:19-21, 24

 Here we find why those who place all their hope and trust in themselves and worldly riches will find woe because that self dependence and fixation with the wealth of the earth is fleeting and temporary. It isn’t going to last forever.

 It’s true, right?

 Think about it. How many people have died and were able to take their money with them? Their home? Car? Anything?

 The truth is you take nothing with you. Nothing. You leave it all behind for someone else. And even your brain is dead. So much for all that great intelligence and aptitude you had. It’s going to rot away into dust and be swept away with the wind.

 To these people facing this destiny, Jesus gives another (and far more promising) option, the option of storing up treasures in heaven vice on earth, riches that would never fade away but last for all eternity. These riches are not found in anything tangible but rather are spiritual assets that come when one chooses to serve God and not worldly prosperity and affluence.

 There is no middle ground. Jesus gives no third choice where someone can have riches on either side of the line that separates the world from heaven. This means we have to choose which master we will serve, God or money, because we can’t serve both. We have to decide where our devotion is going to be directed and channeled.

 Jesus said the poor in spirit, those who realized their poverty and a need for the quality of life only the Lord would bring, would receive the kingdom of heaven. They would be blessed for choosing the Lord as their master.

 As for those who see them rich with the world as their master, Jesus lets them know what they can expect:

 Woe.

 Tomorrow, we’ll see Jesus tell us about how another subset of people will experience woe.  

 Amen.

 In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com